


Lost & Found

by lostraiders



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, brittberry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-26
Updated: 2012-10-26
Packaged: 2017-11-17 02:37:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/546709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostraiders/pseuds/lostraiders
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brittany keeps forgetting that something she was supposed to do. What was it again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. The only thing I do own is my imagination of things that will probably never ever happen. Still, a girl can dream.

* * *

Once again Rachel resisted the urge to slam her locker door close in frustration. Venting out her current state of emotions on an inanimate object wouldn't be a very dignified manner for a soon-to-be rising star, not to mention very crude. Pausing to recollect herself, Rachel let out a deep breath before opting to search through her locker, once again.

It would have been the thirty-sixth time that she'd done so today; each previous search proved fruitless. It was imperative that she found the object that she was looking for. But she will not panic. And she will continue her search in a perfectly calm disposition. Rachel pumped the stress ball that was in her left hand a couple of times more.

 _Very calm_ , she thought.

"Hi!"

Rachel almost growled at the interruption. Mentally, she steeled herself to face this untimely intruder and prayed to Streisand that they'd be quick on their way and to leave her be.

Turning towards and facing the sudden greeter, Rachel arched one eyebrow up in curiosity.

"Hello Brittany," she greeted back once she was over her surprise. It wasn't every day, if ever, that a Cheerio would voluntarily come and acknowledge her presence – much less in a friendly, cordial manner. Still, however nice Brittany can be, her sudden presence caused a slight wariness to settle at the pit of her stomach.

If she was lucky maybe the tall cheerleader had simply mistaken her for someone else. It had happened before.

Standing by her locker, Rachel waited as patiently as she could – she had yet to locate her misplaced item. Brittany, on the other hand, just continued to stand there with what seemed to be an everlasting smile. Rachel usually would have given the girl her Berry smile as she does with all who greet her (except **never** Jacob Israel), but her thoughts and actions were desperately needed elsewhere. And so she took the plunge – she could never achieve her dreams if she wasn't willing to take risks.

"Did you need something?" she prompted the blonde, not too slowly and not too quickly. She didn't want the girl to feel like her appearance was unwanted. Rachel definitely would appreciate steering clear of a beat down via courtesy of one Santana Lopez.

Brittany only shook her head in response as she replied with a 'no thank you'.

Rachel almost flat out demanded why the girl would be here then, but backtracked as she tried to keep from sounding detrimentally rude. Not to mention the wrath Santana would inflict upon her should she learnt of how she had spoken to the blonde.

Those two's relationship – though sketchy and probably rumor filled at best – baffled her sometimes.

Shaking her head at those thoughts – they needn't be too in depth – Rachel decided to question Brittany once again of her presence. Before she could much less part her lips, however, Santana had appeared.

The Latina didn't fail to send a sneer her way. Actually the action's become a sort of habit for girl. It was like an encoded response that had been wired into the girl's consciousness. The day Santana didn't sneer at her would probably be the day Rachel couldn't sing due to the girl's sudden change of demeanor.

 _Think happy thoughts_ , Rachel reprimanded herself before pumping the stress ball once again.

"Having a nervous breakdown dwarf?" Santana then spat out as she eyed the various school supplies Rachel had strewed out and about her locker floor. Not to mention the way the girl kept squeezing that little stress ball of hers.

Rachel didn't feel the need to explain herself, much less to a tormenting Cheerio. Nor did Santana felt like listening as she had quickly turned her attention to the other Cheerio in the vicinity.

"Britts, what are you doing here with Man Hands?"

Brittany only scrunched up her eyebrows in response. "I forgot."

"Whatever," Santana easily dismissed – you learn to take whatever Brittany says in strides – before pulling the other girl along. "Lets go before we catch something."

Rachel could only huff in response at the girl's audacity to imply that she was or had some contagious disease. Santana was more likely to carry something than she was.

Then, of course, the bell rang to signal the beginning of another class and the end of Rachel's so far unfruitful searches.

She only huffed once again before shutting her locker (calmly) and storming off (not so calmly). Rachel had already shoved her lingering belongings into her bag during her haste.

This day had not started well but it better darn end well.

Rachel clutched the stress ball just a bit harder.

* * *

It was now Friday; almost four days has passed since the fateful (and disastrous) incident.

In the beginning, Rachel deduced that she must have simply forgotten her item back in her locker when she was in a rush that crazy Monday afternoon. This was the most logical explanation although Rachel prided herself on being sufficiently and excessively prepared for each and every day. But she was willing to believe this because it was better than the alternative: she had lost Barry. And there was **no** way she was going to believe that she had **lost** him.

Losing Barry was not an option. The idea wasn't even feasible. Barry Berry the Bear was **not** missing. He couldn't be. She'd be lost without him!

Sure gold stars were her trademark signature, a symbolism for her identity. But Barry was her friend especially when no one else would be; Dad and Daddy don't count. Barry was always there and always will be – she refused to believe he was to be lost forever and never by her side again. Rachel and Barry first became inseparable when her grandmamma on her Daddy's side gave him to her as a gift for starting kindergarten. She had said that the little bear made her think of Rachel, to which Rachel then promptly named him Barry Berry the Bear.

She thought the name was ingenious and sounded very cute.

Okay, she was a bit of a dork but who could blame her? Certainly not Barry because he absolutely adores the name she had given him.

Since then Rachel never quite grew up without him, and she proceeded to secretly carry him with her well into high school. This was easily accomplished as Barry was only the size of her hand, which made him compact and accessible even from the prying eyes of juveniles. No one knew that she carried Barry with her; Dad and Daddy never saw since Barry remained carefully hidden in her school bag.

Rachel almost broke into the school that night of Barry's discovered disappearance, but the thought of such a shameful mark on her academic records stopped her. And so she managed to convince herself that Barry was going to be perfectly fine without her. Then by tomorrow morning they would be reunited. She just merely had to wait till the school reopened the next day. She will persevere through this brief and unexpected time of turbulence because by tomorrow it was all going to be okay again.

Then it was the next day and it was **not** okay. She had opened her locker door expecting to see Barry's ever-present smile awaiting her from behind. What she had gotten was **no** smile and **no** Barry.

Rachel almost shouted a profanity really loudly that morning. And she was desperately tempted to forgo school and continue with her search regardless of the academic consequences. She wanted Barry back gosh darn it!

But no, she will not let others see her unravel. She promised Barry she wouldn't let anyone see that side of herself.

She just needed to retrace her steps and she will find Barry.

Practically four days later and Rachel was conducting her nine hundred forty-fifth search through her locker. And once again she was dumping the entire contents of her locker as well as her backpack out. In conclusion, she had found absolutely nothing that would suffice in determining the precise location of one Barry Berry the Bear.

Rachel quickly summarized that now was not the time to panic, although she probably had long ago. It would be completely irrational to start pointing fingers, especially given that she had no evidence whatsoever that someone might have taken what was rightfully hers. Unfortunately for Karofsky he chose that very moment to appear by the certainly-not-freaking-out girl with a slushie in hand. Before he could toss the sugar high inducing drink Karofsky was startled when the girl did a sudden turn about and faced him. His grip on the cup slackened.

Whatever comment he had on her disheveled appearance died in his throat before it could even bubble out, and Karofsky found himself nonchalantly back on his way down the school hallway. His change of course had nothing to do with the crazed look sported by the usually annoying but harmless girl. Nor was it how he noticed for a split second the way her right hand slightly twitched before her eyes narrowed almost to slits at him. He only left to save himself from the barrage of word vomit that looked to spew forth from her lips. And he was pretty sure that the girl had not just growled the moment her eyes met his.

Some distance away Brittany could only look on in surprise as Santana scoffs. "Looks like Man Hands has finally lost it. Can't believe Karofsky felt intimidated by the midget."

And some distance even further away one Sue Sylvester couldn't help by raise an eyebrow at the unexpected scene.

"Interesting."

-End Chapter One-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want a Barry Berry the Bear. I would also like to meet Barry Berry the Bear.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. The only thing I do own is my imagination of things that will probably never ever happen. Still, a girl can dream.

* * *

Brittany glanced down at the object in her hands. Eyeing it for a second or two, she then looked back up again; still the school hallway remained empty. Faced with that startling fact, Brittany couldn't help but scrunch up her eyebrows in confusion.

 _She would never leave this_ , the tall blonde thought.

Yet the empty hallway persisted in being just empty, well except for her presence that is. Besides herself, no one else was around; no one usually ever was once school ended. And unlike those strange few – Brittany thought they must have been strange – hardly anyone would willingly stay longer than necessary at McKinley High. Heck, even the school's staff left early but that could have been because Principal Figgins cut down on the paid working hours again.

So the way Brittany saw it there was no sane reason anyone would stay hours after school ended, not unless it was to attend practice for some sport or another. And that was why Brittany was still here as late as it was – she believed any time spent at school after school was considered late. However, Brittany thought it was weird that no one appeared after she had found what she did.

"Maybe she doesn't know," Brittany mumbled to herself before taking another glimpse at the object she currently held. It wasn't anything big or expensive looking. In fact, it probably wouldn't have looked like much to anyone else but Brittany knew differently.

Only she knew the real importance and value this object held, even if it was just a small, simple bear. A heart patch was even sewn right over where the heart would be if the bear were real. It was cute. And Brittany had found it left all alone in one of the school's many hallways. She was on her way from her locker when she noticed the bear lying on its side, forgotten by a row of lockers.

Although it was a random thing to find, especially in a high school, Brittany knew immediately whom the bear belonged to. And even if Brittany figured there could have been millions – seriously there was a lot – of students who currently attended McKinley High, she knew for sure that the little bear belonged to none other than the little diva known as Rachel Berry.

Brittany knew that the bear belonged to Rachel, because she had actually seen the petite girl reaching for the object when she thought no one was looking. She remembered thinking there was nothing odd about that since she, herself, had plenty of stuffed animals at home that she'd liked to pet sometimes; Mr Quackers is the best. From that day on, Brittany began to notice the (usually overlooked) moments whenever Rachel would (always) reach for the (very secret) bear.

It didn't hurt that Brittany constantly thought that what Rachel did was cute.

And sometimes, when she stared at Rachel a bit longer than usual, Brittany thought that Rachel herself was cute too. Of course, Brittany was going to keep that little thought of hers a secret. Everyone was allowed secrets, just like Rachel and her.

Smiling to herself, Brittany walked back to her locker and opened it. She decided to sneak another peek at the bear and ended up tracing a finger around the little bear's heart. There were some words stitched on the patch that she didn't bother reading earlier but now she couldn't help her curiosity. So she began to read and it said:

         Barry Berry the Bear

         Property of Rachel Berry

         If found please return to its rightful owner.

         You shall be rewarded handsomely if you do.

Brittany smiled just a little bigger at the mention of the bear's name.

 _Barry Berry the Bear_ , she recited in her mind.

She didn't think Rachel could get much cuter, but apparently she was wrong. Rachel can get very much cuter.

Brittany couldn't help the small blush resulting from yet another (very secret) thought of hers before shaking her head to get rid of it. Her mind could get **very** imaginative at times and she couldn't help it when it happened. Giving Barry a quick kiss on the tip of his nose, Brittany promptly put him away in her locker. Rachel was going to be real happy when she returned him to her.

And to ensure that Brittany remembered to return the item back to Rachel the first chance she got – she was sure Rachel would appreciate a speedy delivery like she would – Brittany made sure to make a post-it note of it. She wrote:

         Go see Rachel.

         Love Brittany!

Sticking the note on the inside part of her locker door, Brittany gave a little smile at her handiwork before deciding to move Barry behind some books. She wasn't sure if Rachel wanted anyone else to see and know about Barry. And if he was a secret bear then she was sure that Rachel would definitely appreciate her to continue keeping Barry a secret.

Closing her locker door, Brittany then returned to the spot where she had found the lonesome Barry. Picking up the bag she'd left, Brittany quickly took out her cell phone inside just as it began to ring. She didn't bother looking at the caller ID before promptly answering the call.

"Hi S! Yeah I'm coming now. I got lost a little but then I met someone on the way. Don't worry though. He's tiny and would never hurt anyone. He's very well behaved you know."

-End Chapter Two-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now everyone knows what happened with Barry! On another note, I think Mr Quackers and Barry Berry the Bear should totally have a little tea party together. Brittany and Rachel can chaperone.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. The only thing I do own is my imagination of things that will probably never ever happen. Still, a girl can dream.

* * *

"Seriously B, you need to stop hanging around Man Hands. People, especially the Freak, might start getting ideas – the **wrong** ideas."

Brittany sighed. Santana had made sure to emphasis the word 'freak' with a capital F in her rant. Santana was mad again. Well, maybe not mad but more frustrated. She didn't really understand why. All she did was have a nice conversation – she managed to say 'hi' – with Rachel before Santana decided to butt in, literally. Rachel even looked like she was going to retaliate after having picked herself up from the lockers. Brittany would have helped the girl up but Santana was quick to grab a hold of one of her wrists before dragging her off; she didn't even get to say 'goodbye'.

Now Santana was once again leading her through the school campus and away from one Rachel Berry – her friend seemed to be doing that a lot recently. And since Santana always had a firm grip on things Brittany couldn't do much but follow the girl's gentle (and somewhat forceful) tugs.

As she was pulled along, Brittany vaguely listened to the other girl gripe about how she couldn't understand Brittany's misguided obsession of trying to hang out with the 'tranny of all people'. And that she should naturally be repelled away from the GAP Kids reject, more so since lately the Freak – there's that capital F again – seemed to be losing it.

Lose what exactly Brittany wasn't quite sure but there was this slight tingle at the corner of her mind. She was forgetting something again. She wondered what it was.

Pretty soon the two girls met up with the last of their group, where Quinn only raised an eyebrow at the appearance of Santana's off-putting posture and the slight dejected look on Brittany's face.

"Hanging out with RuPaul again?" the Cheerios captain asked, nonchalantly.

Brittany prepared to answer but Santana managed to beat her to it. "A minor lapse in judgment. It won't happen again," Santana finished with a pointed look towards Brittany to drive the idea in.

Quinn only shook her head lightly at Santana's answer. Given what she'd seen so far for the past few days, she knew it would only be a matter of time before Brittany went bounding for the midget again. She didn't quite understand what would prompt Brittany – much less anyone for that matter – to willingly approach the diva's space bubble. Well, if they had a slushie she'd understand but even then you didn't have to be that close to slushie someone.

_Whatever_ , Quinn thought before pushing off the locker she was leaning against. Walking away, Quinn didn't bother waiting as the other two Cheerios naturally followed, flanking both sides of her. They walked a familiar path to the most feared spot of McKinley High and watched as a girl came running out past, crying hysterically as she did so. The recurrent scene did nothing to faze the three Cheerios – they were used to such drama – and continued on inside the trophy-filled office.

Apparently Coach had something she wanted to discuss with them.

* * *

Brittany ambled about in a slight daze. The meeting with Coach had taken a strange turn.

"I'm confused San. Does Coach have a ninja or not?" Brittany asks.

"She doesn't," Santana quickly replies without a fault in her stride. Brittany felt like she should argue back but decided to reminisce on the meeting that had already ended. Maybe she missed something.

* * *

[Previously in Sue Sylvester's Office]

"Normally I try not to associate with Asians, but I found the habit of keeping a ninja to be very beneficial," Sue states plainly from behind her desk.

"You have a ninja?" Quinn questions. Sue only dismisses the offhanded inquiry and continues. "I've been keeping tabs on the Glee Club members and various other individuals." Brittany's soft mumble of 'we're Glee Club members' was also easily ignored. "And if you look inside those files," Sue pauses momentarily as all three Cheerios looked hesitantly at the files and then each other.

" **Now** would be good!" Sue soon barks out, snapping the girls into action as all three opened the identical file that each were given earlier when they first stepped into the office.

Santana's reaction was instantaneous as her face morphed into one of disgust. Brittany just looked bewildered at what she was seeing. And Quinn, well she just kept her face neutral, quietly shuffling through the file's contents.

Inside each file were copies of various snapshots displaying the most recent behavior of one Rachel Berry, unofficial Queen of the Gleeks. Brittany was actually kind of disturbed to see that some of the photos included her attempts to talk with Rachel. Before she could question when or even how these photos were taken, Sue continued on once again.

"You'll see the steady decline of Berry's mental capacity, made obvious by the photographic evidence before you." Sue suddenly smiles as she picks up one picture in particular that displayed two very recognizable people. "My personal favorite is when the midget finally learns the good she's doing by ignoring William."

Neither of the girls knew how to comment nor how they should have reacted. But Sue simply took their silence as confirmation of the situation before explaining in detail what needs to be done.

"Simply put for your insipient minds: I want to know what's making the Berry girl go bonkers. And you three are going to find out why and keep her that way. William's little Glee Club is going down and Berry's the linchpin."

Swiveling in her chair, Sue leaned back with folded hands as she faced the trophy case that stood behind her desk. All three Cheerios remained seated, unsure whether Sue had anymore to add. "Well what are you waiting for? Return my files and leave," she then said dismissively.

The girls were prompt in their actions, not wanting to spend another second longer in the office than necessary. However, just before they were fully out Sue had turned back and spoke. "Oh, and to answer your earlier question Quinn. No, I don't have a ninja." Sue pointedly looks at the other two Cheerios. "And you two better remember that as well."

"But you –" Brittany starts only to have Santana cover her mouth. "We got it Coach," Quinn says before all three girls quickly exited the office. But just before the door closed completely, Brittany was pretty sure she saw Sue drop the Rachel files into a trashcan before flicking a lighted match that followed; she sure hoped that trashcan was flame-proof.

* * *

Quinn was quick to leave for classes – which had already started long ago – and left the other two girls to their own devices. Santana, of course, was there to actively guide Brittany on the appropriate path towards her locker. And once the tall blonde got there, she was faced with the same post-it note that appeared every time she opened her locker. Luckily Santana was on the other side of the locker door and never noticed; she probably would have thrown a hissy fit that Brittany was telling herself to go **towards** Rachel and not **away**.

Brittany scratched the side of her head at the sudden tingling sensation she felt at the corner of her mind again. This forgetful feeling was starting to irk the usually carefree girl since she really disliked being forgetful; Brittany doesn't use the word 'hate' because hate's such a strong word.

Unfortunately her post-it note remains a little vague on the details. So Brittany never quite remembered why exactly she needed to see Rachel – that still didn't stop her from routinely greeting Rachel whenever she could though. But Brittany had begun to notice that Rachel seemed oddly distracted at times, which was unusual for the focus-driven diva.

And, since Brittany noticed, the rest of the Glee Clubbers definitely noticed. Most of them thought it was Berry's neurotic tendencies going into overdrive with the new habit of constantly squeezing this little stress ball she had. Brittany thought Rachel was still the same old Rachel just with some additional quirks. Or, at least, those were her thoughts until she – along with Santana and whoever else was there – turned around and saw Rachel's little display of 'almost going ape shit crazy' on Karofsky; the commentary was added later by courtesy of one Santana Lopez.

* * *

Classes were barely even over but everyone was talking about the showdown between Rachel and Karofsky. Although Brittany didn't think it was much of a showdown as Karofsky never really did anything except walk the other way and Rachel just kind of stood there. But after Rachel's little performance – or maybe it was a psychotic break like Santana suggested – Mr Schue had an emergency Glee Club meeting scheduled right after school and (most of) everyone agreed it was for the best. Apparently no one was going to leave anything to chance, especially not after the most talked about event occurred.

* * *

It was widely agreed upon amongst a majority of the members that at this meeting they will find out what was greatly disturbing one Miss Rachel Berry, mainly because it was disturbing the hell out of them as well.

In total synchronization all Glee Clubbers (minus one) turned to look at the nearby form of their Glee Club captain. **She** was sitting some feet away surrounded by a vast amount of empty chairs; no one saw it fit (or safe) to sit so near her. Well, Brittany did try but Santana made sure to nix that idea right off the bat. The fact that Rachel was all by her lonesome self wasn't so unusual. What was unusual was the way Rachel's eyes kept twitching every once in a while and how she kept squeezing that same old stress ball in her hand.

Brittany vaguely wondered why Rachel didn't just buy a new stress ball since the other one looked pretty worn out.

Nevertheless, everyone wisely kept to themselves. And no one questioned Rachel. Rachel said nothing either, but she did make it a point to give everyone the stink eye as she continuously squeezed her stress ball some more. Mr Schue just stood at a loss on how to begin the intervention/encounter.

Maybe this impromptu meeting for Glee Club wasn't such a good idea after all.

-End Chapter Three-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Sue has a ninja, a secret ninja. Oddly I'm not surprised. And… the reappearance of Rachel! I wouldn't want to be stuck in a room with her. Well, when she is the way she is right now.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. The only thing I do own is my imagination of things that will probably never ever happen. Still, a girl can dream.

* * *

There was a clue somewhere. And Sue was going to find it.

Above all, Sue Sylvester is a winner and being a winner means seeing the loser in everyone else.

This ability of hers is in fact a part of her bloodhound-ish qualities; she's been able to sniff out and hone in on any weakness at the slightest appearance. But despite the times she spent dealing with the lowly life forms known as teenagers, she couldn't quite decipher the diva's rapidly devolving behavior. Sue needed to know the motive, the cause of it all.

Lately the usually prim diva has been on edge and, although it amused her greatly, Sue needed to know why. She wanted to know whatever it was that had the girl on a first class ticket to crazy town and she just plain wanted it, period. Sue was certain that her three little Cheerios would get her what she wanted. If not then there was going to be hell to pay, most certainly for the pathetic Glee Club and her failure of Cheerios.

That is if the dwarf hadn't already done so with her more than insufferable self.

Everything converged when Sue – along with whatever wandering mouth breathers – witnessed the midget's reenactment of Carrie on one of the football Neanderthals. Combine that fascinating event along with the fact that Glee Club was going to have an impromptu meeting after school today Sue knew exactly where she was going to be.

_Time to prepare for some delicious interaction with the bottom feeders._ Sue smiled at the impending catastrophe that was bound to occur. She wouldn't miss it for the world.

Rounding the next corner, Sue approached the music room that the Glee Club was most definitely having their abysmal meeting in. Her hand had only just landed on the doorknob before she heard a bit of a scuffle.

"What the hell? Rabid much? You better not have given me rabies Treasure Trail!"

_Ahh, the sounds of disunity. Music to my ears_ , Sue thought with, ironically, glee. Then with a quick twist of her hand Sue opened the door.

* * *

[Just Previously in Glee Club]

It was eerily fascinating to see Berry devolve in such a fashion; similar to knowing something bad was going to happen but watching it anyways. It was a bit morbid of everyone.

"Well," Mr Schue began unsurely. He probably would have continued on with some monologue on team work and striving past personal problems but faltered when Rachel suddenly set her sights on him when he vocalized his existence. Instead, Mr Schue just quickly closed his mouth with an audible shut as he reactively backed up into the piano that was behind him.

The next moments came as a blur when Quinn bravely – or perhaps without much thought – approached the deranged girl to no doubt insult her surprisingly even worse appearance. Quinn didn't get far in her taunts before the unexpected happened.

"What the hell?" Quinn immediately shouted before pulling her right arm protectively over her chest. "Rabid much? You better not have given me rabies Treasure Trail!"

The following reactions varied.

Puck acted first by slapping a hand down on his knee before letting out a hoot and a holler. "Damn! Berry's got some fangs!" Puck exclaimed in both excitement and, quite possibly, revere.

Kurt, who sat just in front of the other boy, simply worked his jaw soundlessly; unable to fully articulate on what just occurred moments ago. Not till a full minute or two later did Kurt manage to vocalize one of his many thoughts.

"Did she just –" Kurt began only for Mercedes to finish with a 'yes'. Kurt only nodded distractedly in understanding.

Next Brittany commented, almost as an afterthought, "Wow. Rachel's a biter." Luckily, only the two people closest to the girl heard.

Puck had tilted his head in thought before nodding to himself. Santana, however, snapped her head to the side, staring incredulously at her companion with the vivid intent to retort on how wrong that sounded. But then that was the moment Coach Sue Sylvester appeared. Subsequently, everything went to hell.

Or, at least, it was going to.

"Hello there my minions!" Sue proclaimed ecstatically as she entered the room. "Future minions," she added with a nod to the rest of the non-Cheerios.

"Sue!" Will shouted at the sudden appearance. "What…" shaking off his shock at Rachel's previous actions before continuing, "What are you doing here?"

"Well I heard through the tangled grapevine that there was an emergency meeting for your little club here. Just thought I'd come by and show my," Sue pauses momentarily before smiling, "Support". And it was true. Sue did support the dysfunction that has settled amongst them due to the diva's inability to get it together or act in normal Berry fashion.

"Well we don't need your 'support'. So please leave."

Sue's head practically swiveled to glare at the unfortunate that had the obviously misguided audacity to speak to her in such a manner.

Rachel Berry.

She never failed to provoke.

The pint-sized diva's attitude (and never lacking suspicions) didn't surprise Sue. Her courage – or possibly stupidity – was a trait that Sue would have admired if she were one of her Cheerios, but she wasn't. So she hated it.

"Rachel! You shouldn't speak to an adult like that," Mr Schue quickly chastised.

"Can it William. I don't need you to fight my battles," Sue retaliated back.

Rachel only brushed Mr Schue's comment aside and promptly stood before approaching the Cheerios coach. Sue never missed a beat. And aptly matched the girl step for step. Rachel only crossed her arms before stopping just a few feet away from the ever-conspiring teacher.

"It's quite obvious that Miss Sylvester is here for a reason," Rachel cocked an eyebrow condescendingly before continuing, "She wants something."

Sue almost smiled. If Berry didn't annoy her so much Sue might have actually wanted the girl on her Cheerios. _Actually_ , Sue thought distractively at the remembrance of her profile on the girl.

The rest of Glee Club, however, simply watched the confrontation with bated breaths. Their captain was going toe-to-toe with the dragon lady herself; it was literally like watching David and Goliath. And just when they thought things couldn't get much worse (or weirder), it did. Someone went and uttered the words they never thought they'd hear, considering the person that just spoke and to whom it was spoken towards.

"I admire your spunk. Say, have you ever thought about joining the Cheerios?"

A collective breath was taken throughout the room at the sudden turn of events. Rachel, however, seemed to have returned to the old route of twitching her eyes before painfully griping her vastly bulging stress ball.

"I don't like you and, quite frankly, I don't trust you. So no. I don't think I'll ever be joining the Cheerios."

'Thank God' could be heard from the side and it didn't fail to sound suspiciously like Santana.

Sue only smiled before horribly voicing her supposed disappointment. "Well that's a darn shame!" The Cheerios coach suddenly leaned in close as she lowered her voice for Rachel's ears only. "But remember, sometimes you gotta work with those you hate to get what you want." Straightening herself, Sue then turned to stroll back out the way she came.

"I'll be going now William. See that your little star keeps up with that fascinating new behavior of hers. She might become a winner yet."

The door shut and everyone released the collective breath they had taken. Well, until a loud crash was heard and everyone (but Rachel) turned to see that Tina had fainted.

Puck just let out a small 'damn' in response.

-End Chapter Four-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much happens in this chapter. I just wanted to try to touch up a little on Sue's insight of the situation.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. The only thing I do own is my imagination of things that will probably never ever happen. Still, a girl can dream.

* * *

The meeting approached a definite end the moment Sue decided to grace them with her exit and Tina subsequently fainted from the day's ( **very** ) strange events. But no one actually began leaving (or moving) until they heard the slight crunching sounds emanating from the beads inside Rachel's stress ball. That was when everyone noticed how Rachel just stood where she was, constantly pumping her stress ball some more.

"What just happened?" Mercedes finally voiced in her daze. She had managed to get up from her seat but after what she just witnessed she was still kind of out of it.

"I believe it was Armageddon," Kurt surmised before walking over and linking arms with his fellow diva comrade, "Or perhaps the start of one." Walking out the door, and pulling Mercedes along as he did so, Kurt continued on and chatted about the recent – as in it just happened right in front of us – incident. Mercedes could only interject later with a confused 'how exactly did we survive?'.

Before long, the rest (or at least a majority) of the Glee clubbers followed suit.

Tina, blissfully asleep, was wheeled off while seated on Artie's lap; the bespectacled boy was more concerned with Tina's wellbeing than the current drama. Mike and Matt silently left the room as well. They felt no words were needed.

Santana, however, felt no such thing and quite vocally voiced her discontent. "Coach must be losing her mind," she exclaimed.

Quinn only flexed her fingers before staring at the reddening part of her right hand. She was obviously more focused on other things. Like whether or not the 'little twerp' had her rabies shots.

"I still can't believe Man Hands actually had the nerves to bite me," Quinn commented. If she got sick then Berry was going to disappear from the face of the earth. Quinn hastened in her departure; she needed to get her hand examined.

Finn only shifted about awkwardly before stumbling after his girlfriend. He remembered the crazed look in Rachel's eyes.

Santana only scoffed at Finn's inadequacies before turning to the blonde that was still with her.

"Lets go Britt, before something else happens."

Brittany only got up and slowly headed towards the door. "Rachel would be hot as a cheerleader," she stated offhandedly.

Puck appeared next to her in a flash as he slung an arm around the girl's shoulders. "That she would be," he added as the two left with Santana not far behind to comment on that revolting thought and how their views were definitely skewed.

The Glee Clubbers were definitely all a fluttered.

Most certainly disturbed was one named Rachel Berry, who remained standing at the exact spot a Sue Sylvester had left her at.

Her thoughts were racing, her mind churning different scenarios a minute. She imagined every possible explanation there was to Barry Berry the Bear's disappearance, except for **one**. Was it feasible that the Cheerios coach had somehow come upon Barry during a helpless state. The idea was ridiculous but still very (frighteningly) possible.

Rachel's arms tensed as the grip on her stress ball increased excessively.

It wasn't long before the stress ball burst and a few small beads trickled onto the floor.

Rachel Berry was **not** happy.

* * *

Sue watched the various reactions of William's little Glee Club predatorily from her spot, easily and naturally hidden. The game had gotten interesting and she just upped the ante. Now to let the pieces – pawns really – fall as they will.

Stupid people tended to do stupid things, especially when threatened or imposed upon. And oh how she wanted SpongeHair SquareChin to do something very stupid. But, she supposed having one of the lowly mouth breathers do something stupid would suffice.

Moreover, seeing the little diva past her boiling point would be amusing. With that last thought, Sue turned and left.

* * *

Brittany was alone by the time she got to her locker. Puck had left some time ago citing reasons that he had 'big plans'. Brittany wasn't sure what kind of plans Puck had, but they must have been something with the way he said them and wiggled his eyebrows. Santana followed soon after since she couldn't handle the idea that Brittany thought Rachel would be a hot cheerleader. It's probably a good thing that Santana doesn't know what else Brittany thinks about Rachel.

Brittany paused a little as one of those vivid past thoughts floated into mind.

Blinking a few times as she realized where she was, Brittany continued on with what she was previously doing.

Today was a Friday and she needed to catch up on some stuff; her classes confused her. Now if only she could figure out which books would help so she could take them home with her. After a few minutes of blankly staring at the inside of her locker, Brittany still wasn't sure which books to settle on. So instead she decided to take a little bit of everything.

Things shifted here and there and, as they did, Brittany noticed the object she placed far back in her locker some days ago.

"Oh," she whispered.

Brittany didn't really understand most things but it wasn't like she didn't try. It just took some time before she fully understood what she was trying to figure out. Of course, there are times when Brittany just figured she'd never understand. But there were moments where everything suddenly connected and Brittany understood what was going on.

This was one of those moments.

* * *

After dumping the last of the spilt beads Rachel tossed the rest of what remained of her stress ball into the trash as well. The day – as well as the previous days – had not started well and now? Now Rachel felt like locking herself in her room and never coming out.

Walking back to her seat to retrieve the rest of her items, Rachel was startled out of her self-loathing when someone spoke.

"Rachel," Mr Schue carefully started. And, beneficial to him, Rachel managed to squash the instinctual impulse to lash out. She would allow him to speak his piece.

"If you ever need to talk. I'm here," he finished.

The room fell into silence once more before Rachel decided on a response. "I'm," she paused before taking a deep calming breath, "Fine."

Mr Schue only looked at her hesitantly before she added a 'really' in an attempt to relieve his worries. He only stood watching her for a few more minutes before slowly nodding and started walking towards the door. He figured that Rachel was sensible enough to come to him should anything get too out of hand for her. Well, that and he really wanted to get out the room and put some distance between him and the kind-of-scary-at-the-moment Rachel.

His actions stalled when the door slammed open and he literally had to jump out the way to prevent himself from being hit.

* * *

"Rachel!"

Said girl turned to see a slightly disheveled Cheerio leaning with a hand pressed against a now opened door. Rachel would have – should have – been apprehensive that a cheerleader was calling out to her.

But the girl wasn't just any Cheerio, she was Brittany.

And lately the tall blonde had been friendlier than usual: saying 'hi' whenever she could, initiating conversations, and walking with her to classes. Typically, Rachel would have relished the thought that someone was truly being nice to her without any ulterior motive lurking about somewhere. The fact that practically the entire student body used her for some laughs and chuckles instilled Rachel with the habit to become wary of anyone who willingly approached her.

But, again, this girl was Brittany. And Brittany wasn't the type of person to use others, intentional or not. So someone actually paying attention to Rachel should have thrilled her. But, again, right at this moment all Rachel wanted to do was nothing more than to get home. To march up those steps, lock the door to her room, and just lie curled up on her bed. Alone.

It was time to accept the inevitable: Barry was gone and probably always will be.

"I have Barry!" came the sudden shout as Brittany held out the mentioned bear with her left hand.

The response was immediate and Rachel felt as if she was sucker punched in the gut as a breath of air expelled from her body. Following, her grip loosened on the bag she recently picked up, which subsequently fell haphazardly onto the floor.

Brittany almost stumbled backwards from the sudden close proximity she shared with the other girl.

Rachel ever quick on her toes – years of dancing did that – found herself eagerly awaiting Brittany's next move. If it wasn't for the manners Dad and Daddy drilled into her, Rachel might have already tackled the tall blonde in her haste to reunite with Barry. Instead she opted to remain but a few inches away from Brittany. Personal space be damned.

"You… you dropped this some days ago. I found it," the blonde fumbled a bit as she handed Barry over.

Rachel only accepted the item in a calm, reserved fashion before looking down at the once missing bear. Her mind froze with one thought: she was holding Barry Berry the Bear.

"I'm really sorry. I meant to give him to you before, but I kept forgetting," Brittany tried to explain.

However, Rachel continued to remain eerily quiet and Brittany couldn't help but frown slightly at the thought that maybe she had done some great wrong. But before she could say anything else Rachel had reached out and hugged her.

Brittany immediately stilled from the action, and she was pretty sure her heart skipped a couple of beats as well. And when she finally thought about hugging Rachel back, the pint size diva suddenly shifted and gave her an impromptu kiss on the cheek. A 'thank you' is heard from the shorter girl before she rushed past Brittany and out the room.

Brittany, meanwhile, remained standing in a slight daze. The kiss had been short and brief ( **and oh-so-close-to-her-lips** ) but Brittany certainly didn't mind.

She also didn't miss seeing the big smile Rachel sported when the other girl left.

Brittany smiled herself as a light shade of pink began to grace her face.

Rachel Berry **kissed** her. Well, she kissed her on the cheek. But a kiss was a kiss! And Brittany definitely wouldn't mind receiving another one from Rachel.

Of course, the little world she was in shattered when a slam was heard. Blinking a couple of times as she shook the rest of her daze off, Brittany turned and glanced around to see Mr Schue with a look of pure shock on his face. A few feet in front of him laid some of his books on the floor, scattered upon impact.

Brittany could only smirk at the teacher's late reaction to what had transpired earlier before heading over towards the chair Rachel once occupied. She definitely didn't miss seeing the bag the other girl had dropped in her haste. And as she picked up another forgotten Rachel Berry item, Brittany bit her lower lip as an interesting thought came into her head.

If that's what she got when Rachel was really happy, then what would she get when she was 'handsomely rewarded'?

She hoped to find the answer to that soon.

-End Chapter Five-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, looks like Brittany has an excuse to see Rachel again. Also, 'SpongeHair SquareChin' is a certified Sue Sylvester trademark.


End file.
